Receptacle-closure.



` 1. P. F. WHlTE.

REGEPTACLE CLOSURE.

APPLlcATxoN FILED JUNE 12, 1911.

1,268,904. Patented June 11, 1918.

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35 315 J5 l 0555A U3 |3127 g y 40 Z5 JOHN I?. F. WHITE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

RECEPTACLE-CLOSURE.

Application iiled .Tune 12, 1917.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that JOHN P. F. WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, has invented certain new and useful Im: proveniente in Receptacle-Closures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to receptacle closures, and has for its primary object to provide simple, durable, and e'ective means for securing a cover upon a tank or other receptacle, whereby the entrance of water to the receptacle, or the accidental displacement of the cover will be rendered impossible.

It is another and more particular object of the inventionV to provide a closure as above characterized embodying a main cover engaged by the exterior of the receptacle wall, a supplementary cover engaged upon the upper edge of the wall, and manually adjustable means disposed between the two covers and operating to exert a positive downward pressure upon the edge of the supplementary covei' and also coacting with the main cover whereby the latter is held against movement upon the receptacle wall.

And it is a further object of the invention to provide a closure which is primarily designed tobe used upon powder storage tanks, and which is of such construction that the above stated purpose is satisfactorily accoinplished, and without necessitating any material structural alterations in suoli tanks as are now in general use.

And it is also an important object of the invention to devise a receptacle closure which may be very easily and quickly ap-v plied to or removed from the receptacle wall, and in which the several parts of the closure will remain connected to each other when the closure is not in use so that the necessity of assembling the several elements in the application of the cover to the receptacle is avoided, and the possibility of loss of the parts when the device is not in use thereby obviated.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved combination and arrangement of the several elements` to be hereinafter described and then more `particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference char- Speccaton of Letters Patent.

)Patented Jl une 11, 1918. serial no. 174,232.

F l is a detailed fragmentary vertical section, illustrating a slight modification, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the clamping arms showing the modied construction.

Referring in detail to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1,2 and 3, thereof, 5 designates the body wall of the tank or receptacle, which in the illustrated construction is of galvanized sheet inetal of the requisite thickness. This body wall is provided in spaced relation to its upper edge and upon its exterior with a laterally projecting annular flange or shoulder 6, the face of which is inwardly beveled or inclined, as at 7, and merges into the body wall of the receptacle. Above this shoulder, the receptacle wall is relatively thick, but the upper edge of said wall is slightly reduced in thickness and formed with an outer concave annular seating face 8, the purpose of which will be presently explained.

Above the shoulder 6, and at diametrically opposite points, the studs or rivets 9 are securely fixed, the outer ends of said rivets being formed with the heads 10. 11 designates the main cover of the receptacle closure, the annular wall 12 of which is provided in its edge and at diainetrically opposite points with the bayonet slots 13 to receive the heads 10 of the respective rivets 9. Immediately above each of the bayonet slots an elongated circumferentially extending slot la is formed in the cover wall. The body wall of the cover 11 has an inwardly or downwardly depressed central portion 15 and to the side wall of such depression in the cover at diametrically opposite points the terminals of a bail 16 are pivotally connected. One manner of such connection I have illustrated in the drawing as consisting in the provision of angular threaded terminals on the bail for engagement through the openings in the depressed wall of the cover, suitable nuts 17 being engaged on the threaded terminals of the bail. 1t is, however, to be understood that various other means may be adapted for the attachment of the bail, or, in fact, if desired, the bail may be altogether dispensed with.

To the underside of the base of the central depressed portion of the cover 11, a relatively thick metal plate 18 is permanently riveted as at 19. rlhe cover has a central opening therein which coincides with the central threaded opening 20 in the plate I 18. An exteriorly threaded cylindrical member 21 is engaged in this threaded opening, and upon one end of this member wings or linger pieces of any other preferred form as indicated at 22, are formed.

23 designates a supplementary metal cover which consists of a circular plate curved adjacent its outer edge as at 2e, to provide an annular wall 25 which is adapted to fit tightly within the upper end of the receps tacle wall 5. The edge of the annular wall 25 of this supplementary cover is outwardly turned to provide an open annular bead 26 thereon, which is designed to receive the upper edge of the cover wall 5. rlhe inner face of the outer wall of said bead is suitably formed to closely fit upon the annular seating face 8. To the center ofthe supplemeir tary cover 23, a metal plate or disk 27 is riveted as at 28, and in this plate, one end of a rod 29 is centrally fixed. rllhis rod eX- tends loosely through a central bore or, opening in the member 21, and has its other end threaded 'to receive a retaining nut 30 which holds the member 21 in assembled position and limits its outward movement.

Between the main and supplementary covers, a clamping device is arranged. rlhis device consists of a metal plate 31 having a central opening therein to receive the rod 29. lrom this plate a plurality of arms 32 radiate, said arms preferably tapering slightly in width. llach of these arms has its outer end portion disposed at an obtuse angle as at 33, and upon the terminal of each arm, spaced hinge knuckles 34 are formed between which a knuckle 35 formed upon one end of a plate 3G is disposed. A suitable pintle is engaged through the alined bores of these knuckles whereby the plate 36 is hingedly or pivotally connected to the end of the arm. For the purpose of strengthening or reinforcing the arms 32, they are each provided with spaced longitudinally extending beads therein, as shown at 3S. For the same purpose, the plate 31 is preferably provided with an annular bead indicated at 39.

1n assembling the parts, it will be understood that the clamping device is arranged within the main cover 11, the outer ends of the hinged plates 3G being engaged through the respective slots 1e in the cover wall 12. rlhe supplementary cover 23 is now inserted within the main cover, the rod 21 being engaged through the central opening in the plate 31 and through the opening 20 in the plate 18. rThe member 21 is now threaded into the opening 20 and against the plate 31, and finally the retaining nut 30 is threaded upon the outer end of the rod 29. The several parts having been thus assembled, the closure is in condition to be applied to the open end of the tank or receptacle. ln such application the wall 12 of the main cover is engaged eXteriorly upon the upper end of the receptacle wall and moved downwardly, the heads 10 of the rivets 9 being engaged in the open ends of the bayonet slots 13. When the edge of the cover wall 12 comes into contact with the shoulder 6, the cover is slightly turned or rotated in the proper direction so as to dispose the rivet heads in the inner ends of the bayonet slots.

The member 21 is now rotated by means of the wings 22 and threaded downwardly through the opening 20 to exert albearing pressure centrally upon the plate 31. This plate and the arms 32 thereof being forced bodily downward, it will be apparent that the outer ends of the hinged plates 36 are rocked upon the bead 26 of the supplementary cover 23 so that a positive downward force will be exerted upon said bead at a plurality of spaced points while said plates will also eX ert an upward pressure against the upper edges of the slots 14 thereby tending to force the main cover upwardly to the limit of its movement and thereby effecting a fricticnal binding contact of the lower edges of the bayonet slots 13, with the rivet heads 10. 1t will, therefore, be apparent that the main outer cover is positively secured against any possibility of turning movement whereby it may be accidentally disengaged from the rivet heads, while at the same time there is a direct application of a positive bearing pressure upon the edge of the supplementary cover 23, and the same is forced into tight frictional contact upon the reduced upper edge of the receptacle wall and the possibilith of its disengagement therefrom precludecl Thus the contents of the receptacle will be absolutely protected Linder all circumstances against possible injury from the entrance of moisture or any other injurious element to the interior of the receptacle.

Preferably, though not necessarily, a coiled spring a0 is engaged upon the rod 29 and interposed between the plate 31 and the plate 27 fixed upon the supplementary cover 23. This coiled spring facilitates the release of the cover in the .event that there should be adherence from any cause between the plates 36 and the parts of the cover elements with which these plates are engaged. When it is desired to remove the cover, it is only necessary to reverse the rotation of the member 21 or thread the same upwardly to release gli wardly through the pressure upon the plate 31 and the two cover members can then be readily turned upon the receptacle wall so as to aline the rivet heads 10 with the open ends of the bayonet slots 13. The closure can now be easily lifted from the cover wall and removed. The several parts of the closure, however, remain connected, and thereafter the closure can be, at any time, easily and quickly applied to the open end of the reeeptacle and tightly secured thereon in the manner above described.

In Figs. 4; and 5 of the drawing I have illustrated a slight modication wherein the hinged plates 36 are dispensed with, and the angular portions 33 of the clamping arms are of such length that their terminals will project through the respective slots in the wall of the main cover 11. The end edge of each of these angular portions 33 of the clamping arms are formed with spaced concavo-convex ribs or corrugations 41 struck from the metal, said corrugations tapering inwardly and gradually merging into the body portion of the clamping arm. Thus there are provided spaced portions in each clamping arm having walls obliquely inclined with respect to the plane of the angular portion 33 of the arm. In the application of this form of the closure to the ta when downward pressure is exerted upon the clamping device and the arms thereof forced downwardly into bearing contact upon the edge of the supplementary cover, the terminals of said arms tend to move inthe openings in the wall of the main cover 11, and the obliquely inclined walls of the corrugations 41 exert a gradually increasing frictional binding pressure against the upper edges of the slots 14C in the wall of the main cover. Either form of the device will be very satisfactory in use, and operates to assure a very reliable and eHective water-tight closure for the tank or receptacle.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, the construction2 manner of operation, and several advantages of the invention will be clearly and fully understood. The closure is particularly designed for use upon metallic powder tanks or receptacles, though, of course, not necessarily limited to such use. It is highly essential in the application of the closure to powder storage tanks, that water shall be effectively excluded from the tank and the possibility of the accidental displacement or loosening of the closure prevented. By means of my invention, I have accomplished this desired result and produced an effective closure which can be applied to the tank with ease and facility, and without requiring any material structural alterations in such tanks now commonly employed in the storage and transportation of practical powder. It is, of course, manifest that the closure may be made in various sizes and also of other forms in accordance with the form and capacity of the particular tank or receptacle to which it is to be applied. It is further to be understood that, while I have herein shown and particularly described several constructions of a practical character, it is manifest that the construction and relative arrangement of the several elements employed may be considerably varied in many respects without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as claimed.

It will be observed that a direct downward pressure is exerted upon the center of the cover through the medium of the spring 40. en this spring is not employed the plate 31 will be forced into bearing contact upon the center of the cover 23. It will of course, be apparent that a gasket may be disposed upon the upper edge of the recep- V tacle wall.

What I claim is 1. The combination with a receptacle, of a closure therefor including a cover member having a sealing groove to receive the upper edge of the receptacle wall, a plurality of radially disposed clamping elements operatively engaged with the cover at spaced points, a part surrounding the receptacle and projecting above the upper edge thereof, said part having means affording bearings for the outer ends of said clamping elements, locking means on the receptacle wall for engagement by said part, and means for actuating said clamping means to operatively engage said part with the locking means and simultaneously urge the cover to its applied position,

2. The combination with a receptacle, of a closure therefor including a cover member provided with an open bead on its edge to receive the upper edge of the receptacle wall, a part to extend around the receptacle wall above and below its upper edge, locking means on the receptacle wall for engagement by said part, cover clamping elements operable to simultaneously urge the cover and said part in relatively opposite directions to their applied positions, a part fixed to the cover member, and a manually operable part loosely engaged upon the fixed part and having a relatively movable connection with the part extending around the receptacle wall, said manually operable part being operatively engaged with said clamping elements to actuate the same.

3. The combina-tion with a receptacle, of

i a closure therefor including a cover member having means upon its perimeter for engagement upon the upper edge of the receptacle wall, a part to extend around the receptacle wall above and below the upper edge thereof, locking means on the receptacle wall for engagement with said part, said part being provided with spaced slots, means operatively engaged in said slots and also eoacting with the cover, and means for actuating said last-named means to simultaneously urge the cover and said part to their applied positions.

4C. The combination with a receptacle, of a closure therefor including a cover member having means upon its perimeter for engagement upon the upper edge of the receptacle wall, a part to extend around the receptacle wall and extending above and below the upper edge thereof, said part being provided with spaced slots, clamping means including elements operatively engaged in the respective slots and also co-acting with said cover, a part fixed to the cover member, and manually adjustable means engaged upon said part and coacting with said clamping means to simultaneously urge the part surrounding the receptacle wall and said cover member to their applied positions.

5. The combination with a receptacle, of a closure therefor including` a main cover to engage exteriorly upon the wall of the receptacle, spaced elements fixed in the recepta'cle wall for locking engagement with the wall of the cover, a supplementary cover arranged within said main cover and having an open bead for engagement over the upper edge of the receptacle wall, said main cover being provided in its wall with spaced circumierentially extending slots, and a manually operable clamping device arranged between said covers and including clamping elements loosely engaged through the respective slots in the wall of the main cover and adapted to exert a positive downward bearing pressure upon the beaded edge of the supplementary cover to tightly engage the same upon the upper edge of the receptacle wall.

6. The combination with a receptacle, of a closure therefor including a main cover1 to engage exteriorly upon the wall of the receptacle, spaced elements fixed in the receptacle wall for locking engagement with the wall of the cover, a supplementary cover arranged within said main cover and having an open bead for engagement over the upper Copies of this patent'may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the edge of the receptacle wall, said main cover being provided in its wall with spaced circumferentially extending slots, and a manually operable clamping device arranged between said covers and including an axially movable member, and spaced clamping elements connected to said member for relative movement and loosely engaged through the respective slots in the wall of the main cover, said elements being adapted to exert a positive bearing pressure upon the bead of the supplementary cover to tightly engage the same with the receptacle wall.

7. The combination with a receptacle, of a closure therefor including a main cover to engage exteriorly upon the wall of the receptacle, spacedelements xed in the receptacle wall for locking engagement with the wall of the cover, a supplementary cover arranged within said main cover and having an open bead for engagement over the upper edge of the receptacle wall, said main cover being provided in its wall with spaced circumierentially extending slots, and a man ually operable clamping device arranged between said coversand including an axially ,movable member, and spaced radially projecting clamping elements pivotally connected to said member and loosely engaged through the slots inthe wall of the main cover, said elements being adapted to exert a positive bearing pressure upon the bead of the supplementary cover and tightly secure the same upon the receptacle wall.

8. The combination with a receptacle, of a closure therefor including main and supplementary cover members adapted to be respectively engaged exteriorly and interiorly upon the receptacle wall, clamping means interposed between the cover members, and a manually operable element having threaded engagement in the main cover member and coacting with said clamping means to actuate the latter and simultaneously clamp the cover members in their applied positions upon the receptacle wall, and additional means on the supplementary cover for preventing bodily radial displacement o'f said clamping means;

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN P. F. WLHTE.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

